Motor-cycle.



A. LEVEDAHL.

MOTOR GYGLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1910 Patented De0.26, 1911.

A. LEVEDAHL.

MOTOR CYCLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1910.

Patented Dec. 26,1911.

3 SHEETSr-SHEET 2 LEVEDAHL.

MOTOR GYGLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1910.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 34 L g [K11 o W \I U w H u p i O I I 0 j 111 b o oIll/6122271 7 JZzELlel/eda/LL K102 COLUMBIA PLANOG RAFH 0.. WASHINGTON,1). c4

nurrun STATES PATENT ounion.

AXEL LEVEDAHL, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ,ASSIGNORJTO AURORA AUTOMATIC MA-CHINERY COMPANY, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, .A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MOTOR-CYCLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AXEL LEV'EDAHL, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and use-- ful Improvements in Motor-Cycles; an I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in belt driven motor-cycles,and more particularly to an improved means for loosen ing and tighteningthe driving belt of such a motor-cycle.

It consists of the matters hereinafter de scribed and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings :Figure l is a view in side elevation of a motor-cycleprovided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a partial section on anenlarged scale taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a partialsection taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevationsimilar to Fig. 1 showing a slightly modified form of the device. Fig. 5is a partial sectiontaken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4:.

In the drawings, A indicates the main frame, as a whole, which includesthe seat post B and the horizontal frame member C.

D indicates rear stays and E E the rear fork arms.

F is the rear wheel; G the driven pulley 'mounted thereon, and J themotor which is mounted on the main frame and has its driving pulley Jconnected by a belt H with the pulley G. Said motor is shown asconnected with the seat post by means of a sleeve j on the seat post anda bracket i connected to said sleeve.

The rear stays D are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the rearend of the horizontal frame member C by means of a pivot bolt d and attheir lower ends with the rear end plates 6 of the rear fork arms E bymeans of pivot bolts 05 K is an arm which has pivotal connection at itsupper end with the main frame and at its lower end with the forward endsof the rear fork arms. The arm K also carries at its lower end thebearin for the pedal shaft, L. Said arm is provlded with bifurcations 7cat its upper end which embrace and are pivotally connected to a lug Z0preferably formed integral with the sleeve j which supports the motor.Said parts are connected by means of a pivot bolt K At the lower end ofsaid arm K is formed a transverse bearing sleeve K through which passesthe hanger-sleeve K containing the bearings for the pedal-shaft L. Therear fork arms E E are provided at their forward ends with enlarged,apertured part-s which surround and are clamped upon the ends of saidhangersleeve K The said sleeve K thus forms a rigid connection betweenthe fork-arms, at their forward ends, and by reason of its being adaptedto turn in the sleeve K affords the necessary pivotal connection betweenthe arm M and the said fork-arms.

M is an upwardly projecting operating lever which is made rigid with thearm K.

In this instance it is shown as an integral prolongation of onebifurcation is of the arm K. To the upper end of said lever is pivotallyconnected an operating arm N which is provided with a segmental pinion nmeshing with an arcuate rack 11, rigidly secured to the seat-post B.

As a result of this construction, by swinging the arm N forward orbackward, said arm will, through the pinion n and the rack 91 move theupper end of the lever M for ward or backward to swing the arm K on itspivot and swing its lower end away from or toward the motor pulley J.This movement will be communicated to the rear forks E and the rearwheel F, and thus increase or decrease the distance between the centersof the pulleys J and G. This movement of the rear wheel is made possibleby the pivotal connection of the stays D with the rear ends of the forkarms and the main frame, and the pivotal connection of the forward endsof said fork-arms with the arm K. It is apparent that the tension of thebelt H may thus be readily controlled by means of the arm N.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the operating arm Nand the lever M are pivotally connected by friction-inducing means sothat the arm N and the lever M will remain fixed in the relativepositions in which they are placed. Said friction inducin means, asillustrated in Fig. 3, consist of friction washers 71? inserted betweenthe adjacent parts of the arm N and lever M.

In that form of the device illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the operatinglever M is extended upward to about the level of the seat or the top ofthe frame, and is there provided with a spring-controlled pawl whichengages a toothed rack P secured to the tank A Said mechanism isconstructed as follows: The upper end P -of the operating lever is madehollow to receive a plunger provided at its upper end with a thumbpiece19 A slotted opening is cut through the lever and the plunger, andthrough said opening extends the toothed rack P. The plunger is providedwith an upwardly projecting tooth Q located in the slot Q, which toothis adapted to engage the teeth of the rack P and is normally held inengagement therewith by a helical spring R, located between the lowerend of the plunger and the bottom of the bore of the lever. In thisconstruction, the operating lever itself is grasped and directlymanipulated to tighten or loosen the belt, the spring-controlled pawlserving to lock said lever in the desired position. By pressing on thethumbpiece p at the top of the plunger, the pawl is released so that thelever may be shifted to a new position. The pedal-shaft L has drivingconnection with the rear wheel by means of sprocket-wheels on the saidpedalshaft and the rear wheel hub, and a chain belt L trained over saidsprocket wheels, in the usual manner. The pedal-shaft being mounted inthe transverse sleeve K of the arm K, has fixed relation to the rearwheel and is moved or shifted with the same in the act of loosening ortightening the driving belt.

I claim as my invention 1. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combinationof a motor, a main frame on which the motor is mounted, a rear wheel, adriven pulley connected therewith, a driving pulley having fixedrelation to said main frame, a driving belt connecting said pulleys, apedal-shaft having fixed relation to the rear wheel, frame members inwhich the rear wheel and pedal-shaft are mounted, said frame membershaving movable connection with the main frame by means permittingshifting movement of the same forwardly and backwardly relatively to themain frame, and means for shifting said frame members and holding themin shifted position.

2. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which said motor is mounted, rear stays, rear fork arms, saidrear stays being pivoted at their upper ends to the upper part of themain frame and at their lower ends to the rear ends of said fork arms, arear wheel, a

driven pulley connected with the same, a

driving pulley having fixed relation to said main frame, a beltconnecting said pulleys and means connecting the forward ends of therear fork arms with the main frame, affording backward and forwardshifting movement of said fork-arms, and means for holding said forkarms in a desired position.

3. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which the same is mounted, rear stays, rear fork arms, saidstays being pivotally connected at their upper ends with the upper partof the main frame and at their lower ends to the rear ends of the rearfork arms, a rear wheel, a driven pulley connected therewith, a drivingpulley having fixed relation with said main frame, a belt connectingsaid pulleys, an arm pivotally connected with the main frame and withthe forward end of the rear fork, and means for swinging said arm toshift the rear fork arms forward or backward and for securing said armin any desired position.

4. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which said motor is mounted, rear stays, rear fork arms, saidstays being pivotally connected at their upper ends to the upper part ofthe main frame and at their lower ends to the rear ends of the rearfork-arms, a rear wheel, a driven pulley connected with the same, adriving pulley having fixed relation with said main frame, a' beltconnecting said pulleys, an arm pivotally connected with the main frameand with the forward ends of the rear fork arms, an operating leverrigid with said arm, and means for holding said operating lever in anydesired position.

5. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which the motor is mounted, rear stays, rear fork arms, saidstays being pivotally connected at their upper ends with the upper partof the frame and at their lower ends with the rear ends of the rear forkarms, a rear wheel, a driven pulley connected with the same, a drivingpulley having fixed relation with said main frame, a belt connectingsaid pulleys, an arm pivotally connected at its upper end with the mainframe, said arm being provided at its lower end with a transversebearing sleeve, a hanger sleeve engaged with said bearing sleeve andwith the forward ends of the rear fork arms, said hanger sleeveaffording a pivotal connection between the said arm and the rear forkarms, and means for swinging said arm to tighten or loosen the belt,said means including means for retaining said arm in a desired position.

6. In a belt-driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which the motor is mounted, rear stays, rear fork arms, saidstays being pivotally connected at their upper ends with the upper partof the main frame and at their lower ends with the rear ends of the rearfork arms, a rear wheel, a driven pulley connected with the same, adriving pulley having fixed relation with said main frame, a beltconnecting said pulleys, an arm pivoted at its upper end to the mainframe and provided at its lower end with a transverse bearing sleeve, ahanger sleeve which extends through and is adapted to turn in saidtransverse bearing sleeve, said rear fork arms being provided at theirforward ends with parts which surround and are secured to the ends ofsaid hanger sleeve, and means for swinging said arm to tighten or loosenthe belt, including means for holding said arm in a desired position.

7. In a belt driven motor-cycle, the combination of a motor, a mainframe on which the motor is mounted, a rear wheel, a driven pulleyconnected therewith, a driving pulley having fixed relation to said mainframe, a driving belt connecting said pulleys, a

pedal shaft having fixed relation to the rear wheel, frame members inwhich the rear wheel and pedal shaft are mounted, said frame membershaving movable connection with the main frame by means permittingshifting movement of the same forwardly and backwardly relatively to themain frame, and means for shifting said frame members, embracing anoperating lever, an operating arm pivoted to said operating lever andengaging the main frame, and friction-producing means adapted to holdsaid operating arm in any position with relation to the operating leverin which it may be placed.

In testimony, that I, claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 20th day of July A. D.1910.

AXEL LEVEDAHL. Witnesses:

R. A. NORLING, F. ESPERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

